Although it has been the standard practice of the building construction industry to utilize lumber, bricks, concrete blocks, poured concrete, lathe and plaster, drywall gypsum board, and fiberboard, as well as various insulating materials, in building homes, offices, apartments, condominiums and commercial structures, many of these materials are now in very short supply and their prices are continually escalating. Moreover, lumber resources in this country are becoming rapidly exhausted, thereby further increasing building construction costs.
For thousands of years man has built structures of soil, and even today such buildings are constructed in many countries, especially in the less industrialized areas. Usually, soils are only successfully used as construction materials where the climates are hot and dry, and where the soil consists primarily of clay, known as adobe. In cool, rainy climates, earthen building structures are only suitable when built on high, dry stone foundations to eliminate the structural deterioration caused by moisture capillarity from the underlaying soil.
Moreover, soil itself lacks necessary strength and structural characteristics for modern buildings, especially in multiple storied buildings where material stress requirements are critical.
Not only is the structural integrity of soil or earthen building materials lacking, but some improvement of the energy capacity and resistance is desirable. For example, typical adobe earthen structures have an energy capacity of 1.833 btu/144 (in.sup.3) (.degree.F) and an energy resistance of 0.154 btu/in (hr) (sq. ft.) (.degree.F). However, a reduction in the energy capacity and increase in energy resistance so as to produce a construction material having more insulative qualities is often desirable. Such properties can be improved toward typical insulating materials which have an energy capacity of from 0.040 to 0.347 and an energy resistance of between 2.778 and 5.882. Accordingly, it is the purpose of this invention to provide an earthen or soil composition having highly desirable insulative qualities as well as structural integrity, and which is economical to produce as compared to presently used construction materials.